Fraudsters drink from the World Cup

When the World Cup kicked-off earlier this month so too did a wave of Internet security threats.

Malicious e-mails and phishing scams are deliberately designed to exploit sporting fans, according to Websense country manager Joel Camissar.

"[Their] techniques are designed to lure people after tickets, merchandise or other memorabilia into their scams... we're already seeing the World Cup being used as a vehicle by online fraudsters," he said.

It is a slight change in online threats from the usual money-driven scams, run by highly organized criminals.

"A recent e-mail scam in Japan, run by the Russian Mafia, offered access to premium World Cup tickets for $10 via a Web site. It was a hugely successful phising scam that trapped a lot of people," Camissar said.

He also warned of another World Cup e-mail scam that offers a wall chart of the event which, when executed, infects the user with a Trojan. To minimize risk, Camissar recommends individuals ensure they run the latest anti-virus signatures, update firewalls, anti-spyware programs and install recent operating system patches.

He said businesses should ensure the same and also connect filtering software on Web gateways to block non-reputable sites.

"But most important is education; ensure you and your employees are aware of malicious threats and preventative measures and see to it that they report anything they see as a risk," he said.

The Network

The largest voice and data network ever created was implemented to accommodate the World Cup.

During the game, 15 trillion bytes of data is expected to be used by teams, referees, journalists and FIFA officials for accreditation, result reporting, logistics and transportation.

The network will allow access to real-time scores, wireless transmission of photos and access to updated FIFA contacts all via a secure system.

FIFA head of IT solutions, Mike Kelly said a network built from the ground up can transform how the game is presented.

"It doesn't get much bigger or harder than the FIFA World Cup when it comes to the need for secure, reliable communications," he said.